1950s Couture Dress from Givenchy with Artful Curves

This slim dress in the sketch below was designed by Givenchy in 1955. It is loosely fitted with a high bust band that curves and swings to a back, low-placed button. Short sleeves and a collarless neckline. Note the tea length. Such intriguing fashion!

 

Here is the dress as developed by manufacturers for the American market. I'd love to see what that matching jacket looks like!

1955 Givenchy Suit - American Style

This suit by Givenchy from 1955 has a back-dipping silhouette, with a distinctive semi-detached band that hangs free from the jacket at center back.

The American adaptation, in linen-like silk, modifies the jacket's back belt dip (you can see it, just look for that small gap) and shortens the sleeves to 3/4 length.

Slim and chic!

Spotted in a Shop Window - Peplums!

Spotted in the window of Nordstrom's, downtown Seattle, this fabulous Givenchy slim skirt & jacket with flared peplum and front cascading drape has dramatic color contrast:

Also spotted in the window at Nordstroms, is this Dior red hot 2-piece dress with cascading peplum:

Peplums have been popular over the decades, but particularly in the 1940s. Here are a few fabulous vintage styles with peplums.

1950s

 

 1940s

 

 

1930s

It's Radical - Fashion Protest over Hemlines in 1970!

In the late 1960s, the mini skirt reigned supreme, and did we young women ever love it! I remember it with such fondness. My father would often remark, as I was preparing to walk out the door in a mini-something "Well, you have a shirt on, when are you going to put on the rest of your clothes?" ;) In those days, I wore clothes with the high-thigh lengths you see in these photos. So sassy, so liberating!

 

Yes, we really wore our hemlines that short. Here are some patterns from 1969 that demonstrate the mini-length hemlines. There is short, and then there is really short:

 

(Note the bridesmaid's mini dress!)

 

Then, in 1970, the powers that be in fashion dictated a switch in skirt length from mini to midi. Not happy!! Life magazine, March 13, 1970 edition, captured this fashion hassle over hemlines.

 

 

Couture designers were quoted on their views about the hemline change, and they clearly had strong preferences:

In the sewing patterns of 1970 and on, we slowly start to see lower hemlines, including the midi and the maxi lengths. The ultimate compromise was moving the hemline up to just below the knee.